“The Case Is Individually Wrapped In Faux Reptile Skin”

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You probably should have called it Faux Dragon Skin, Bioware special edition packaging designers. If you’re going to use it a fake reptile to decorate the supermegaultrodeluxe version of Dragon Age: Inquisition’s box, you might as well go for the ultimate fake reptile.

Other than this misstep, EA/Bioware are going all out with the clumsily yet wonderfully-named Dragon Age: Inquisition Inquisitor’s Edition. A lockpick set! A tarot deck! A quill and inkpot! Pretend money! A bloody enormous cloth map!
We don’t generally post about this sort of thing, but the excess on show in this $170 box is impressive – either they’re working very hard to convince us that Dragon Age is the real RPG deal after the divisive II, or they’re blithely unaware that people aren’t sure what to expect from Inquisition.

One set of four full scale map markers each approximately measuring 3.5″ x 3.5″ x 4″

Inquisitor’s Badge

Quill and Inkpot

40-page Inquisitor’s Journal

Orlesian Coins

Limited edition SteelBook case to house your copy of the game

Copy of Dragon Age Inquisition Deluxe Edition

I love the way the inclusion of the game itself almost reads like an afterthought. “All these toys and oh yeah, a game too.”

I… kind of want it. Mostly for the quill and inkpot. Maybe I should just buy a quill and inkpot? The lockpicks, by the way, are apparently intended to open a hidden compartment in the not-reptile box – remains to be seen whether more nefarious activities will be possible too.

The aforementioned Deluxe Edition of the game, incidentally, also sells as standalone and/or download for $70, and includes a shedload of bonus items which will amost inevitably be made available as DLC to owners of the $10 cheaper standard version of the game. It’s the sort of thing which is vaguely troubling to read, in a “well that sure sounds like it totally imbalances the game” sort of way. Who doesn’t want a Bog Unicorn, though?

Here’s the list:

Skyhold Throne – Every ruler should sit in a place of high honor, but as the Inquisitor you will have the greatest of all, fashioned from an ancient dragon skull.

Red Hart Halla – Traverse the perilous, living world atop this great-horned beast.

Bog Unicorn – Once belonging to an evil marauder, this unique mount has returned to inspire fear into those who would oppose you.

Bring the world of Thedas wherever you go with the digital soundtrack

Bonus digital content – to be announced!

Also receive the mighty Flames of the Inquisition Gear:

Multi-class Weapons: Smite your enemies with the Flames of the Inquisition weapons arsenal. Whether staff or daggers, greatsword or war hammer, these weapons will make short work of your foes.

Inquisitor Armor: Protect yourself against the onslaught of enemy attacks by suiting up in the Flames of the Inquisition Armor.

Armored Mount: Flames of the Inquisition gear also includes a valiant steed, complete with its own set of Inquisition Armor forged from the flames of battle.

Buying videogames in the second decade of the 21st Century sure is a confusing business.

All of this becomes bewildering reality in the second week of October.

I have a few modestly sized “Collector’s Editions” (or whatever they are called for the game in question), which only added a couple of ingame items, and maybe a soundtrack CD and/or an artbook. I don’t regret buying these, because their prices were not much higher than just the game, and I like the additional stuff.

I also have a small number of more expensive editions (though nothing as crazy as this – nothing that cost a three-digit amount of dollars), all of which I bought years ago, and which I now feel slightly embarrassed about. In the end all the additional crap (toys, unusual USB sticks, cards with artwork, etc.) just went back into the box, after I looked at it once, and it is still there today.

The bamboo chess set that came with Shogun Total War still has a glass shelf all to it’s self in my living room, and the safety deposit box and duffel bag that came with GTA4 both get regular practical use.

ashamed to say im a little bit tempted by this, but will wait for the reviews before considering it seriously

I’m not sure how they could NOT work out for anyone. It’s basically the only sort of pre-order where you can be absolutely sure of what you’ll get. I’m very happy with my Warhammer Online, SWtOR and Rome II collector editions and they are all on prominent display in my nerd-cave. Stuff like this and items from WWII are the only sort of decorations I’m interested in.

But again, I’m at a total loss as to how one would go about in order to regret a collectors edition purchase of any sort. Buying it without looking at a single picture of description of the items included?

Never heard of “buyer’s remorse”? Someone might think they want all of the things in a collector’s edition, but when they just sit in a box taking up room in your house, it’s easy to regret that frivolous purchase.

To this day, I sometimes think about ordering the special edition of Ni no kuni. I would very much like to have a physical copy of the Wizard’s Companion, and once I will have children, I can pretend that it’s, in fact, a guide on how to be a wizard, and a swell person in general.
I think there are ways of educating children based on worse books than that one.

Whatever about the space all the tat takes up, it’s definitely galling to spend the money on some “ultimate” edition and then see extra material released that you’ve got to pay more for. It happens. Might as well wait a few years until all the hoo-hah has died down and then get your ultimate version. If you’re lucky maybe it was all hype and you won’t be bothered with the game at all!

Other than retrospective collections that do contain all content (which I’m quite happy with), I’ve picked up a couple of Guild Wars collector’s editions and the limited edition silver GameCube with The Wind Waker. Shouldn’t have bothered with the GW stuff, the Cube was a good buy as it doesn’t take up extra space and didn’t cost any extra. Some old games that included free novels like Shadow Sorcerer and Discworld were worth it. At least it was possible to finish the Discworld novels…

EDIT: Also have the Ultima IX collector’s edition. The crap in the box was probably better than the game!

In my day they would hunt an actual dragon and wrap the case in genuine dragon skin. Sure the developers lost half their team in the ensuing battle with said dragon, including much beloved Kenny the coffee boy, but it was gratifying to know they’d go the extra mile to provide a quality product.

God forbid you’d actually want a challenging game… Why do people even want extra bits and bobs in a linear single player game? Having the challenge of rubbish equipment and facing dangerous enemies is the whole fun of it.

The best one was Metro Last Light, where the special edition paradoxically unlocked both a ‘more difficult’ version of the game, and then gave you powerful weapons and special ammo straight from the start.

“God forbid you’d actually want a challenging game… Why do people even want extra bits and bobs in a linear single player game? Having the challenge of rubbish equipment and facing dangerous enemies is the whole fun of it.”

The ‘unicorn’ looks like a horse with a sword through its snout! Ouch!

Oh, and I won’t be getting this for sure, after having tried 2. Nevermind that it’s an EA game. Oh, wait. I guess that’s why 2 was so bad. Bioware: ‘Oh, just because they own us, doesn’t mean they have ANY influence on DA2 at all!’ Me: So you just made a bad game because you became idiots? (to self: actually that does explain why they decided being bought by EA was a good move…)

Yup. Let’s change the franchise to be console-first even though that defeats the entire purpose of the project. Also DA:Origins is doing really well on the PC, but screw that, let’s go after the Mass Effect audience anyway.

I find myself wanting this just for the pythonesque name if nothing else. But actually all the silly clobber it comes with kind of appeals too. And there’s no obnoxious figurine or t-shirt or whatever. Yeah, I could get this. Fingers crossed for a decent game, too. They’ve got to have learned their lesson from DA2, surely

I suppose they have to distinguish between the Inquisition Inquisitors and the more dangerous and unpredictable Freelance Inquisitors, as well as the loosely affiliated National Transport Inquisitors, Community Support Inquisitors, and that guy who is nothing to do with them but likes wearing robes and torturing people.

You play Dirk Codpiece; the low-down internal affairs inquisitor of the DAPD, doing the job that no one else wants, and making enemies both inside and outside the force — and they’re all about to have a real bad day…

i want to see a picture with two “not-hawke” inquisitors, one with everything in the faux reptile edition and the other wearing a potato sack because thats how i picture these games everytime i see a humongous list of crap for the “pay extra” editions

I doubt the Deluxe Edition stuff is going to be particularly game breaking. Nothing from the equivalent editions of previous Bioware games did. At best, it made the early game a little easier, then rapidly became super weak in comparison to other items.

Dragon Age: Origins was the last Bioware game I bought. They are going to have to do a stellar job on this one to get me to buy it. Also have to not be tied to their ‘distribution’ system. Certainly not going to plunk down money before it comes out, and the reviews come in.